


ending scene

by grandmas_ghost (nap_princess)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Bad Ending, F/M, I wrote this fic for me but y'all can read it if you want, Juvia my Queen, Lisanna my Queen, Modern AU, Neighbour AU, work au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 10:17:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14871863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nap_princess/pseuds/grandmas_ghost
Summary: "I'll love you," You said, so what is this?– Gruvia if you squint with mentions of Lyuvia and Lyredy, angsty neighbour AU,open ending(the ever favourite Gruvia angst of my heart)





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [ending scene](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/387857) by IU. 
  * Inspired by [Can't Love You Anymore](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/387858) by IU. 



** ending scene **

* * *

  **prologue**

* * *

사랑해줄 거라며 다 뭐야

– **IU** , 이런 엔딩

* * *

  **= Present =**

* * *

* * *

"Gray-sama?"

Gray Fullbuster turns to the person calling for him. Her voice – the sound of it is all too familiar. He hasn't forgotten it just yet despite it being years since he last heard her.

They're standing in a somewhat crowded coffee shop filled with rich smells and soggy paper cups and toasted bagels. Of all the places to reunite, this is not one of the places he wanted to meet her again. But fate had its ways and life had its rules of being fair by being unfair to everyone.

So here they were.

"Juvia," Gray manages to say before she goes in for a hug. He freezes for a split second before he wills himself to not act so tense. Her touch is still as warm as he remembers but he refuses to melt into it.

Gray manages a pat on the shoulder before Juvia Lockser withdraws herself from the embrace, her arms still holding the sides of his shoulders, trapping him in the conversation.

"It's been a while." She continues, the look on her face looks serene and sincere.

Juvia smiles with her whole face and Gray almost falls for her charm once again – her blue eyes crinkling, the corner of her mouth curved upwards, the gentle arch of her eyebrows and how her face softens.

"Yeah," Gray finds himself answering her, already spell-bound. "It has."

With her standing there in front of him, that alone is enough to send Gray back to old memories. Memories that were good and bad, memories that made him feel, memories from five years ago. Those old thoughts, everything they've been through together, played out like an old film in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sad, boys and girls, and only my OTP can make me feel better-ish so suffer with me.
> 
> – 26 May 2017


	2. part one

** ending scene **

* * *

  **part one: Gray Fullbuster**

* * *

 제대로 잘 먹어 다 지나가니까

– **IU** , 이런 엔딩

* * *

  **= Past =**

5 YEARS AGO

* * *

"Lyon said he'd help me unpack my things but that bastard's still not here yet." Gray Fullbuster speaks into the phone to his cousin, Urtear Milkovich, as he moves boxes around his new apartment.

"Well, what did you expect?" Urtear voices on the other line. "You two have never seen eye to eye. Did you expect to suddenly get along and be all buddy-buddy just because you've been working under the same company for a while _and_ living in the same building?" Urtear questions, straight to the point as always.

"No," Gray scoffs, pressing his phone between his ear and shoulder while he tries to balance a box. "I just expected him to keep his promise."

"He might be busy." Urtear replies.

"With what?" Gray interjects, "It's Sunday,"

"Maybe he's at church."

"Lyon? At church?" Gray echoes Urtear's words. "You practically lived with me and dad your whole life, you know Lyon as well as I do, you came over to my house all the time. All three of us have known each other since we were kids."

"Hey, it's not my fault your dad could cook a mean steak while my mom killed everything with all that seasoning she used." Urtear answers, shivering at that old memory, then adds, "Plus, it's not like you ever complained whenever I was over anyways."

"We're family, what's there to complain about?" Gray replies, putting down the box that's labelled **BEDROOM** before making his way back to the living room where everything's left aside.

"Hmm, true." Urtear hums to that.

"Lyon on the other hand –" Gray begins to rant but then Urtear cuts him off.

"People can change, Gray."

" _Change_? Who: Lyon? Are you sure you weren't living under a rock the whole the time?"

Despite being miles away and not being able to see his cousin's face, Gray was sure Urtear was rolling her eyes.

"People can change." Urtear repeats.

Gray replies sarcastically, " _Sure_ , that's believable, and I have that _Disney_ ice queen's magic powers."

Gray only gets a sigh in reply.

Lyon Bastia had been a family friend to the Fullbusters and Milkovichs for as long as Gray could remember. There was a history of how their bad blood began. It wasn't particularly complex or special.

Long story short, Silver Fullbuster and Mr Bastia have been best friends since childhood. Their friendship has lasted for more than forty years, entering fifty. They've gone through thick and thin, and will continue to do so for each other. Through hardships, marriages, mid-life crises, Mika's death. They've been through a lot with each other. It was a vice versa thing to be each other's shoulders. Anyway, the two older men were overjoyed when they discovered they were both having sons, the two figure Gray and Lyon would grow up mirroring their fathers.

They were wrong. _Very_ wrong.

Gray doesn't remember much but according to a home video, Gray's earliest interaction with Lyon was chaos from the beginning. He thinks it all started with them fighting over a toy truck and then things escalating from there. That fateful day didn't end well.

There were tantrums thrown and gibberish toddler babbling. Young Gray ended up pushing Lyon way too hard, causing Lyon to scrape his knee, cry and tattle.

And that was pretty much when it got personal and everything became a challenge between the two. The outcome was something Gray was still bitter about today; not only did Lyon come out victorious, he also ended up with the toy while Gray got a spanking.

Their rivalry began just like that. And _boy_ , did it last for years – more than two decades. From excellent grades to holding important positions in extra-curricular activities to life in general.

But Lyon always had the upper hand no matter how hard Gray worked his ass off. More experience, more charisma, more patience. Always one step ahead.

"Okay, fine, I guess people _can_ change" Gray says, though he didn't think of it genuinely. "But moving things alone is still a bitch though."

Urtear tells her cousin, "Well, you'll only be there for a couple of years. You didn't even bring a lot of stuff, you'll be returning back to Magnolia anyways."

"The ideal time for us to complete the project is two and a half years but, if things don't go as planned, I'll be here for three years."

"So it's almost like you're off at university again, like earning a degree." Urtear explains like it's no sweat. "What's it called again, that project of yours? It started with the letter D,"

Gray feels like he's reminded Urtear about the name a dozen of times. He knows she won't remember. "The Deliora project,"

"Yeah, that." Urtear says, trying to comfort Gray from any signs of home-sickness. "Once that's done and over with, you'll be back home."

Gray hums in reply. He's moved five boxes so far through the call. Having a conversation while moving boxes is hard work. Gray grabs a new box that says **KITCHEN** , heavier than the previous, probably filled with dishes, cups, utensils and frying pans.

He grunts with effort, leaving a small pause as he works.

"You've gone quiet." Urtear says. "What are you thinking about? Still salty that Lyon didn't show up?"

"I'm _not_ salty." Gray answers back.

Urtear laughs on the other line. "Well, Lyon was promoted before you. He probably has loads of things to do. Maybe bad luck struck and he's stuck at the office with paperwork?"

Gray huffs in irritation. "You don't have to keep reminding me."

"What – About the promotion? You got it too, don't sweat it."

"Yeah, three months after him. I'm falling behind."

"You're not slacking for shit. If you keep this one-sided competitive thing going on, you'll work yourself to death." Urtear scolds him like an older sibling.

Gray frowns at this before Urtear continues talking.

"Look," She says. "Just take it easy a bit. You just moved – new job, new apartment, new city." Urtear then pauses for effect. " _New life_. Live a little before you dive back in and barrel through stacks of boring work."

"Hmm," Gray answers lazily back. Then before he knows it, his grip on the box slips and soon it falls to the ground. A terrible crash fills the room.

Gray doesn't even have the energy to curse. Instead, he lets out a sigh.

"Gray?" Urtear's familiar voice is laced with concern. "What happened?" She asks, still worried. "Are you okay?"

"I dropped a box."

"Did it land on your foot?"

"No," Gray spoke and he was grateful God didn't hate him that much.

"You know my mom lent you her good china, right? I hope you didn't break them." Urtear says.

"Fuck," Gray whispers more to himself than anything. Gray opens the box and peers into it to inspect the damage. Low and behold, it is Ur's good china. He hesitates before asking, "Were they expensive?"

"… They were a wedding gift."

Another sigh. He would have yelled in frustration but he was tired and honestly doesn't think he has the energy for this bullshit.

"Shit," Gray curses again. "Bury me with snowlillies, Tear. Your mom's going to kill me."

Urtear then says, without a hint of empathy, "It's the middle of Winter, flowers are too expensive this season. Die in Spring instead." It's more of a joke but Urtear never did learn how to intonate her voice in a fun manner.

Then suddenly, the sound of knocking could be heard – it's constant and seemed to be filled with persistency.

"What's happening now?" Urtear questions.

"Someone's at the door. Probably Lyon." Gray says to Urtear. "I'll talk to you later."

"Just remember: stranger danger," Urtear says.

"Tear, I am a grown ass man."

"Keep telling me that when you get hurt." She says sassily.

"Whatever, say hi to Aunt Ur for me." Gray says, seconds away from clicking the end button.

"Okay," Urtear answers then Gray's ears are greeted by her yelling, "MoooOOOMMM!"

" _What?!_ " Gray hears another voice on the other line.

"IT'S GRAY!" Urtear continues screaming. "HE SAYS HI!"

Ur asks her daughter, "Is that it?! He could have called me himself! Silver should have taught him that at least! Just – TELL HIM HI BA –"

Gray ends the call before his eardrums explode.

Gray doesn't get the last say because it would have been too ridiculous to wait for his cousin to finish the conversation. Instead, he rolls his eyes and goes to answers the door. He's ready to curse Lyon to the moon and back but when he swings it open, he's surprised to be greeted by someone he doesn't know.

And the first thought he had of her was: blue. _Very_ blue.

Blue hair, blue dress and blue eyes. Her eyes … they look worried

"Excuse me – Sorry to intrude." She says to Gray. "Juvia heard a noise and she thought something bad could have happened to you."

Gray blinks at her rather odd speech.

"Are you okay?" She asks.

"What?"

"Juvia – Juvia heard you cursing."

"Oh, uh –" Gray didn't think he cursed that loudly then gestures to his foot. "It's nothing. I just dropped a box, it almost landed on my foot when I was moving stuff."

"That's good to hear." She replies, her worrisome look now gone. She's beaming at him.

Gray doesn't really know how to reply to that so he fills the space with a question.

"Who are you?" Gray asks.

"Oh – Juvia didn't introduce herself. Juvia didn't mean to be rude," She laughs to herself. "Hello, I'm Juvia. Juvia Lockser. She lives right next door, she's your neighbour."

Juvia points to the door on Gray's right and Gray peeks outside just to confirm her apartment door number.

Gray's always been awkward with introductions but he tries his best. He extends a hand for her to shake. "Gray Fullbuster. Nice to meet you, Juvia."

* * *

Gray Fullbuster did not originally intent to get closer to Juvia Lockser. Sure, he did want to make new friends – moving to a new city and all, but Gray figured it would be a work related acquaintanceship. Not ...

Not _this_ next door neighbour thing. Gray didn't know how or why, but Juvia somehow had this mind-set since they were neighbours, they should suddenly be super nice to each other and be friends or something.

It started with random waves in the hallway when their schedules aligned; her going on her morning run and him heading to work early (because he was a workaholic with no life) then Juvia started saying things like "Hello, how are you?" and that escalated to having random conversations – nothing big but nothing insignificant either, just enough to get him to think.

And soon, Gray found himself bumping into Juvia everyday no matter how much his daily schedules change. One way or another, he would always end up seeing her and he would have to be polite.

It expanded and expanded and expanded until it felt like Gray would never escape from seeing Juvia even if he tried.

* * *

Gray didn't know what came over him. One day he just woke up and decided he didn't want to eat cereal for breakfast.

Instead, he wanted to make something. Which was rare; especially since Gray has been living off eating butter toast and _Frosty Flakes_ and take-out for a month now.

His dad, Silver, was a natural cook. Gray … not so much. Sometimes, Gray wonders if he and Urtear got switched at birth or something. Gray never learned how to cook properly. Back in Magnolia, Gray was always the type to eat at home while Silver cooked without complaint. There was nothing wrong with the way things were so they never changed it.

But on this random morning, Gray decided on a simple cheese omelette. He couldn't possibly go wrong with that recipe.

He can hear the person above his apartment – a kid is singing along to the theme song of the show and soon Gray finds himself doing the same. That show; it was nostalgic, okay?

Then Gray hears laughing.

Laughing, as he's pouring the egg into the frying pan over the stove. He can tell it isn't really in a mocking tone but it is one that's very much amused. But, Gray would expect the situation to be a little bit funny. He was listening to music and singing aloud. After all, who would have guessed it would be the _Sailor Moon_ opening song?

Gray cocks a brow and turns off his stove for a second. The walls between the apartments were paper thin. It would be hard to not hear conversation or talking.

"Juvia?" Gray calls out, loud enough for his neighbour to hear. He knows she's the culprit! "Juvia, are you making fun of my singing?"

There's silence before it sounded like Juvia couldn't hold in her laughter. "… No,"

Gray feels his lips curve into an amuse grin as he says sarcastically, "Wow, thanks, that was _so_ believable."

"No, no." Juvia reassure, her voice getting louder as if she wants Gray to listen to her objections. "Really, Gray-sama has a good voice. Juvia just thought it was funny because she was singing the exact same song yesterday."

"Really?" Gray asks. He didn't hear Juvia make a peep. But then again, he might have already gone to work when Juvia decided to sing.

She tells him, "Yes, it's catchy,"

The conversation pauses for a second before Juvia continues.

"Umm, Gray-sama?" Juvia asks through the walls.

"Yeah?" Gray voices.

Juvia hesitates before asking, "Does Gray-sama have any butter?"

"Uhh … Hold up."

 _Did I use all of my butter the other day?_ Gray thinks to himself.

Gray stops what he's going and goes to his fridge. It's 1/3 full. There's nothing much in it except some milk, food in its Styrofoam take-out box and some jam and jellies for his toast. He spots some butter lying around and says, "Yes,"

"Can Juvia have some butter?"

He says, "I guess?"

"Thank you," Juvia says, Gray can hear the sincerity in her voice. "Juvia will come over now and knock on Gray-sama's door, okay?"

"Okay,"

* * *

And she continues knocking.

Juvia Lockser started knocking on Gray Fullbuster door more and more as the days passed. He didn't question it at first.

It only got odd when he answered the door shirtless. He apologized and she pretended she wasn't a little distracted by the sight of him.

"Umm …" Juvia shutters, red faced. "Juvia was wondering if Gray-sama has some sugar?"

"I'll check," He tells her then went to get it for her.

It wasn't like he used the things lying around his house. Gray opens his pantry. There sat sugar still in its packing. Still untouched. The merits of not cooking that much. Plus, he likes his coffee without any sweeteners so he never had the chance to use it.

"Yeah, I have some." Gray says.

"May Juvia have a cup?" Juvia asks, still flustered. She's looking at the ground like her life depends on it.

"Sure,"

So he gave her some sugar in a disposable plastic cup (because he didn't trust himself with the remaining china and he didn't exactly have time to do dishes). She thanked him, he smiled in return. It was all good.

Then she came back asking for more ingredients. Not enough for Gray to feel like he was cheated from his money. But, just enough for it to start to feel very one-sided on the good neighbour department.

Gray's never the one to ask or reach out for anything before. He was a reserved person; he liked doing things by himself.

Gray tries to convince himself that it was whatever though. He was just being a nice neighbour. It's not like he would ever find himself knocking on her door.

He had all he needed anyways.

… or that's what he thought.

* * *

He thought wrong.

Gray Fullbuster did find himself – _himself_ – knocking on Juvia Lockser door because he had run out of coffee and there was no way in hell was he going to go to stand in line at _Starbucks_ or go to some coffee shop that served crappy coffee in soggy cups.

This action somehow conditioned the both of them to mutually ask things _from_ each other as they waited for the other to retrieve the item in need and to fill the silence.

"Did you hear _Sailor Moon_ playing again?"

"No, Juvia thinks it only plays on the weekend mornings."

"Really, I could have sworn it woke me up at three AM once last Thursday."

And in return, turned to them asking questions _about_ each other.

"Do you … like cooking?" Gray asks. All the favours for ingredients got his thinking.

Gray gets a raise eyebrow in return. Juvia questions, "Does Gray-sama like breathing?"

He lets out a chuckle. "You're sassier than I thought you were. And the answer is yes."

"Juvia's answer is yes too." She says with a smile.

* * *

Gray started looking forward to Juvia knocking on his door just so they could talk. He started listening in the hallways to see if she was home. One time, he caught her waving goodbye to her friend after he came home late one night from work.

"Bye, Lisanna-san," Juvia says, wrapping a small white haired girl in a hug. "Stay safe. Text me when you get home."

"Bye. Don't worry, I'll be careful." Her friend squeezes her back.

Lisanna's about to leave but then stops and does double-takes. She gives Gray a questionable look. After all, he is just standing in the hallway, lose tie around his neck and briefcase in hand (those are potential murder weapons in Lisanna's eyes, she's been watching too much _CSI_ ).

"Don't worry, he's a friend." Juvia tells her.

Lisanna lowers her voice to a whisper. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Juvia nods her head.

"Are you _really_ sure?" Lisanna double-checks. "I've never seen this man in my entire life."

"Lisanna-san, Gray-sama's Juvia's neighbour." Juvia replies, lips turned in an amused smile. "And Lisanna-san doesn't live here so of course she doesn't bump into Gray-sama as much as Juvia."

"Okay," Lisanna says then adds, "And I'll _call_ you after I get home,"

Juvia rolls her blue eyes in return and Lisanna returns the gesture by making a playful phone sign with her hand before she gives Juvia a final wave. Then Lisanna disappears down the corridor and into the elevator soon after.

Juvia turns to Gray, a little embarrassed by Lisanna's over-protective mode. "Hi, Gray-sama."

Gray finds his face lighting up at her greeting, "Hey,"

* * *

Their conversations were always simple but also pleasant. Ones that didn't hold anything big but were more than just empty talk. It always started with one liner like; "Oh, Gray-sama, you wouldn't believe the day Juvia had!" or Gray going off, "One of my co-workers is being such a dick!"

Then it got a little bit more personal;

"Juvia saw a puppy today, it was so cute!" Juvia tell Gray, there were stars in her eyes.

Gray answers with a chuckle. "I'm more of a cat person,"

"But, Gray-sama, it was a pupper!"

"I'm still a cat person."

Juvia gasps, offended. "Juvia isn't going to talk to Gray-sama anymore."

"We both know that's a lie." Gray says knowingly.

And it was. Because soon, simple conversations turn into casual ones.

* * *

Juvia Lockser ends up getting locked out of her apartment one night. She had left her keys at her workplace which was only open on the weekdays, which in return, made the situation a little troublesome. She's tried calling up her friends but it's no dice – Lisanna's celebrating her three year anniversary with Bickslow while Lucy's visiting Natsu's family. Juvia paced back and forth in front of Gray's apartment door until he finally opens it from the curiosity of continues noise of footsteps.

She ends up spilling the beans on her situation.

"Juvia is sorry for the trouble. She's called the landlord but he's at the hospital, his wife is giving birth. He can't go anywhere until tomorrow morning." Juvia explains as she apologizes. "Juvia is such a klutz. Juvia's so sorry."

He insists it's no big deal to him, "No, it's fine."

Gray provides Juvia with a spare toothbrush, his oversized gym clothes as pyjamas. She's already changed, brushed her teeth and washed her face when Gray informs her that he'll be taking the couch and his bed will be her place to sleep. And as expected, there was protest.

"No, Gray-sama's going to end up with a sore neck." Juvia tells him like she already knows the aftermath. "Plus, Gray-sama is too tall, his feet will stick out. Juvia's the perfect size, let her take the couch."

"You're my guest, I can't do that." Is all Gray manages to say. He doesn't have a lot of ammunition for this argument.

Juvia puffs up her cheeks and gives him a stare that was supposed to mean business. But in truth, it just looks super adorable.

"No," She says, determine to not be a burden tonight.

"Juvia, c'mon, I don't mind."

" _No_ , Gray-sama."

There's a pause. It seemed like no one was getting anywhere. It was just one big circle. Then Gray finally breaks it.

"Okay, what about this instead," Gray proposes an alternative. "How about we just have a marathon until the hour is appropriate enough to contact the landlord?"

Juvia's mouth forms a thin-line, she taps on her chin. "Is Gray-sama okay with staying up all night?"

"It's Saturday tomorrow. There's nothing else to do besides sleep."

This causes her mouth to quirk upwards. She asks, "What kind of marathon?"

"Horror, since we don't want to fall asleep." Gray says then adds teasingly, "Unless you're scared."

"Juvia's not." Juvia squints at him in reply. "Juvia will take Gray-sama's challenge then and show him she isn't 'scared'." Juvia does quotation marks with her fingers then crosses her arms to show Gray she's serious.

"It's settled then," Gray says.

He tells Juvia to get comfortable on the couch while he gets snacks. When he returns, he throws a woollen blanket over Juvia's lap. He then sets up the TV to his laptop, his _Netflix_ account open for Juvia to choose her preferred horror show. He makes several more trips so that the marathon is durable then he takes something from the fridge before Gray takes a seat besides Juvia.

"Want some cheese cake?" Gray asks as he sets the pastry down on the coffee table. It's store bought.

Juvia snuggles closer under the blanket and shakes her head. "Juvia already brushed her teeth."

"You can always brush it again after." Gray tells her.

"Juvia doesn't want to."

"First word problem, huh?"

This comment causes Juvia to smile and slap his arm playfully. "Juvia just doesn't want to waste Gray-sama's toothpaste."

"Alright, alright, I guess I'll just have to eat the whole thing by myself then." Gray says as if it's a horrible fate.

He wraps the other half of the blanket on his lap, stick his feet under the warmth bliss and start the movie. It starts of painfully slow, not even twenty minutes into the movie and Juvia already begins chowing down on the cheese cake.

"What happened to not wanting to brush your teeth?" Gray teases, earning Juvia to chortle. "What happen to your first word problem?" He asks again. He even pushes his cold feet against her for effect, and this time, Juvia throws her head back and laugh her heart out.

"Juvia was just hungry, okay! She eats when she's bored!" Juvia speaks between giggles then says, "But Juvia will make it up to you. Gray-sama has been so kind to her."

Gray is a little taken aback but replies with ease, the comment was unexpected but polite of her, "You don't have to."

"Juvia wants to."

They ended up poking fun at the movie before the subject landed to the topic of the cake which turned into food which turned into Juvia's cooking.

"I can always smell your food when you're making something." Gray admits, his eyes are on the TV screen.

Words are just fluttering out of his mouth, it's almost like an automatic, absent-minded conversation. He didn't mean for it to have just a big impact.

"It smells … really nice." Gray says, which wasn't a lie. It was just, not entirely the truth.

It smelled _more_ than just nice. Like, holy shit. It always smelled amazing! Gray was the kind who survived off take-out deliveries and quick meals like toast and cereal. And catching a whiff of Juvia's food alone put Gray's effortless put together _Frosty Flakes_ to shame.

"Aww, thank you –" Juvia stops herself mid-speech and suddenly gasps, inspiration struck her. "Juvia can cook Gray dinner tomorrow to make up for Gray-sama's kindness!"

"Would that be okay?" Gray questions, not wanting to intrude or be a burden.

"Of course, Juvia loves cooking for her friends!" Juvia beams at him and claps her hand with glee.

…

They fall asleep next to each other, her head on his shoulder, his head on hers, by the time the clock strikes three AM. They don't wake up until the kid above Gray's apartment screams "SAILOR MOON!" on the top of her lungs at ten AM, with the sun blaring through Gray's pale curtains and the smell of pancakes lingers in the air. It's a little awkward but the end result is; plans to have together three times every week – Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

…

Winter ends just like that with their new schedule and forming friendship.

It's early Spring when Gray and Juvia decided to hang out at the shopping mall. They eat lunch, catch a movie and walk around aimless until Juvia decides she wants to go to the bookstore (which Gray was a secretly grateful for because this was his chance to finally stop walking past his mortal enemies; salesmen and saleswomen shoving flyers in his face and asking him to sign up for ridiculous things).

Gray's staring at a Fiction aisle with little interest when Juvia comes up to him in distress.

"Juvia can't find the book she's looking for."

Gray raises a brow at her before looking around for workers to spot since he couldn't really do much. He wasn't the type have eagle eyes when it comes to finding things. Gray then looks over to the direction of a bulky man sitting in the help desk section, he looks like he belongs in the gym rather than a bookstore.

"Why don't you ask that guy?" Gray asks without a second thought, pointing at Mister Muscles.

Juvia hesitates in asking, fingers running against the spines of a series. "He looks ..." Juvia trails off then picks up where she left her sentence. "... scary."

"More like bitter." Gray says.

The dude had deep dark long messy hair and piercing red eyes. His scowl looked like it was sharp enough to cut iron.

Juvia only hums. She sounds distress.

"Do you want me to ask for you?" Gray asks as he watched Juvia scan the rows of books one more time.

Juvia picks up a random book. Her face scrunches in discomfort at it. It has the movie cover on it. _Ew._

"Yes, please." She answers softly like it's an embarrassing request.

He smiles at her shyness and tells her, "What's it called? The tittle?"

"Umm …" Juvia looks away once again, even more embarrassed. " _Sad Girls_ by _Lang Leav_."

"The book is called _Sad Girls_?" Gray asks, giving his neighbour a funny look.

"The story is cliché but the writing and language is really pretty, okay?" Juvia defends herself. Doing a rather poor job in Gray's perspective.

"You're buying a book because it's really pretty?" Gray asks again.

And she questions him back, "Is that wrong?"

"Not really." Gray answers. "Okay, I'll go ask the guy."

And Gray does. But the guy turns out to be an ass. He refuses to look up from his computer and simply mutter monotone answers. Gray thinks his glasses are fake AF. Poser. His name tag reads **GAJEEL**.

When Gray sulks away, defeated, with only little information that the book is in the fiction section, Juvia comes bouncing up to him.

"Oh, Gray-sama, Juvia managed to get help from another worker." Juvia says, pointing to a petite blue haired girl.

The worker smiles at Gray then hands Juvia the book in hand. Her name tag reads **LEVY**.

"I picked this one especially for you, miss. It has a sticker on the top that lets you redeem a free gift at the cashier." Levy says and taps the right side top corner of the _Sad Girls_ novel. It indeed says 'FREE GIFT' which makes things better.

"Thank you!" Juvia beams at her.

"Thank you," Levy smiles back, glad someone was appreciating her good service.

Juvia thanks her once again for good measurements and when the small girl is out of earshot, Gray turns to Juvia, ready to bash the guy at the help counter.

"Thank goodness for that Levy girl because the guy at the counter wouldn't get up if his life depended on it." Gray tells Juvia. "He was watching videos."

"At work? What kind of video was he watching? No, wait – Juvia doesn't want to know!" Juvia backtracks, expecting the worst.

Gray's eyes squint with amusement, he says without missing a heartbeat, "Cat videos."

…

In the end, Juvia ends up with a pin that has the title of the book. The pins it proudly to her chest. She was now an honorary member of the _Sad Girls._

* * *

Gray squints at his stove in frustration. His stare is intense, if he had Superman's laser beam eyes, that stove would have melted into a gooey mess. Gray thinks he's found a new arch nemesis – fire (and also, occasionally oil. That shit is scary, okay? Especially when it decides to pop out of nowhere).

After weeks of Juvia insisting she was fine with cooking dinner for the both of them, Gray had finally decided to step up as a good person and attempt to make it up to Juvia by preparing something.

The problem was: he sucked at cooking.

Gray calls his dead for help. It's a sign of defeat but no way is he going to fail making spaghetti for the _fifth_ time.

"Gray, my boy!" Silver answers, cheery and optimistic about the call.

"Hey, dad." Gray answers back.

"How are you? Are you doing okay?" Silver begins firing away with questions. "You usually don't call me. We just text. Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine, nothing's wrong." Gray reassures. "I just need some advice. I need help with something."

There's no turning back now.

Silver says, his voice booming, "Sure, what can I do for you?!"

"Teach me how to cook spaghetti."

Gray could practically visualize Silver's face that exact moment. He expected silence, but then Silver made a gurgling noise and by then, Gray wasn't sure if his dad was laughing, choking, dying on his own spit or all three.

" _You_?!" Silver wheezes, having no hope for his son. " _Cook_?! Ha!"

"Dad!" Gray calls out, very much humiliated.

More gurgling – it was definitely laughing.

Gray frowns, trying to get his father's attention, "Dad!"

"Son, I can't believe my ears!" Silver exclaims, still filled with glee.

"Dad, I'm twenty-three, it's about time I learned how to make _something_!"

"I know but why now?" Silver questions, spot on with the next delivery, "Finally tired of making yourself bowls of cereal?"

"Just help me, old man, or I'm hanging up!"

"Wait – Okay, okay, I'm calm! I'm good!" Silver finally settles down his fit of laughter and bites down any more urges to taunt Gray. "First thing's first. Do you have all the ingredients?"

Gray's eyes sweep over his counter. "Yeah, I remember all the stuff you use to make your pasta."

"Good," Silver says then begins instructing Gray. "Okay then, the first thing you need to do is …"

…

Gray manages to surprise Juvia just as he planned. His cooking is decent; not bad enough to cause a stomach ache but just good enough to be considered okay. It's more than edible though.

"I'm sorry I'm not as good as you." Gray apologizes as they're cleaning the dishes – him washing and her drying it with cloth before putting it on the dryer.

"No, no, what Gray-sama did was thoughtful." Juvia ensures. "Juvia thought it was lovely."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere."

Juvia rolls her eyes in response. "If Gray-sama isn't so sure about his cooking skills, then why don't we cook together next time?"

"Together?" Gray echoes, not knowing how to react to the idea.

Juvia bobs her head as her hands moves in circle motions around a wet plate. "Juvia can teach Gray-sama everything she knows and in return," Juvia's tone changed to a joking one now, "Gray-sama can try again to really wow Juvia the next time."

There's a small moment of silence, Gray hums in thought. He doesn't want to waste Juvia's time teaching a noob like him, but then again, he doesn't want to send her to the hospital if he tries his hand in another dish he's not experienced in.

Juvia then adds, she seems a little bashful now, "… If he wishes."

Gray thinks for a moment before answer, "Alright. I'll wow you next time, I promise."

…

He passes his sink filled with dirty mugs and dishes; the sight is a little odd after months of it being occupied by a single cup at times. He makes sure to clean it and not let it pile up in case Juvia visits him.

* * *

They're at the mall again – this time to buy Lisanna Strauss a birthday present. Summer was coming, the heat wave was evidence enough. It's hot and the heat is melting everyone who risks going outside. The constant feel of cool air-conditioning is a life saver compared to the shitty fans set up in the apartment. It's three PM when Juvia finally finishes her purchase, the gift wrapped cutely in animal prints.

"I hope Lisanna-san likes it," Juvia says with a cheery smile on her face. "Lucy-san's already bought Lisanna-san something ages ago and Juvia kind of feels like she's fallen behind in being a considerate friend."

"I'm sure she will," Gray reassures. "And if not, it's the thought that counts. We spent hours walking all over the mall and when you finally saw the damn thing, you spent twenty solid minutes thinking if it was 'the one'." Gray does quotation marks at the mention of the cheesy sentence.

"Juvia did not," Juvia frowns, not appreciating the joke. Regardless, her cheeks are dusted slightly pink.

"You did, a solid twenty minutes, I counted." Gray says. He even taps on his wrist watch for affect.

"Well," Juvia turns her head the other way so he doesn't see her blushing even more from embarrassment. "Lisanna-san is a good friend and Juvia wants the best for her friends."

"Hmm," Gray hums back in reply. "Wanna have lunch now? I'm starving."

"Sure," Juvia says, glad of the change of topic.

Their conversation flits from subject to subject as stand staring at the map of the mall. They can't really settle on one thing. Juvia doesn't want fast food. Gray doesn't want anything spicy.

"It's so hot. I just want something to refresh my dying throat." Gray groans.

"We can't eat water." Juvia says.

"We _can_ eat ice-cream though." Gray suggests, a mischievous smile plastered on his face. Oh no, it's the face of irrational persuasion!

"Ice-cream for lunch?" Juvia asks, giving Gray a weird look.

"We're grown adults, who says we have to follow the rules of desert being last? Life's too short for that."

He only gets a frown in response.

They're debating again while riding down the escalator before Juvia lets out a big gasp and swats Gray's arm repeatedly.

"What? What is it?" Gray asks.

"It's Yukino!" Juvia says in an awe voice, her intonation muffled between a whisper and a yell. Her hand is covering her mouth like she can't believe what she's seeing.

"A friend of yours?"

"No, she's a famous _Instagram_ star!"

Gray only rolls his eyes and lets out a groan. He can't be bothered with these things.

"No, no, _listen_! Juvia will show you!" Juvia says, her phone already in hand. She wants to change Gray's mind that very instant.

As Juvia types in Yukino's username and flicks through the hundreds of ridiculously put-in-effort pictures, Gray suddenly understood how Juvia was drawn to Yukino. The _Instagram_ celebrity used soft palettes and tones of silver, white, light blue, deep blue and grey. Gray sees flashes of yellow when Yukino's boyfriend is in her pictures, occasional dark colours like black when Juvia says there's this guy name Rogue in it and more soft blue and white tones when Yukino's sister, Angel, is in the shot.

"You should go approach this Yukino person before she leave." Gray says to Juvia after twenty seconds of intense scrolling.

Juvia gaps at the person beside her. "Are you mad?! Juvia can't do that!"

"It's a miss opportunity if you don't." Gray says, leaning more on logic. "Besides, she's just a person. It's not like she's going to cast a spell on you and turn you into a frog just because you talked to her."

"Juvia can't possibly –"

But Juvia doesn't get a chance to finish her words because the next thing she know, Gray's already gotten her hand laced with hers and he's pulling her towards Yukino and Sting.

"Wait, no – Gray-sama –"

"Hey there!" Gray says to the couple as he gives them a friendly wave, approaching them.

Now that Gray's in close proximity with the shining stars, he sees they're wearing a matching couples shirt. And he hates to admit it but Yukino was just as aesthetically pleasing in real life as she was in her pictures, her boyfriend was almost on the same level.

The _Instagram_ celebrity and her boyfriend stop in their tracks. Sting tilts his head while Yukino pushes her sunglasses up her head.

Sting is the first to speak, his arm wraps tighter around Yukino's waist. "Yes?"

Juvia wants to run away but Gray''s grip felt like chains. Oh gosh, she felt like she wanted to die. And Juvia feels like her wish was granted when Gray says, "Juvia here wants to say a few things to Yukino."

Sting and Yukino then turn their attention to Juvia. Oh shit, they're watching! The spotlight is on her now! Juvia internally wants God to open up the floors and bury her already.

She only manages to say something when Gray pulls on her arm and tightens his grip on her hand.

"Uh – um –" Juvia blushes redder than Gray's ever seen her blush. "Juvia – I mean, hi. Hi, uh – I just want to say," Juvia says to Yukino, quickly fixing her speech pattern so she doesn't freak her idol out. "I'm – I'm a big fan and I love your photos. They're so pretty and I can see you always put a lot of thought into it and it's just so inspiring!"

Yukino's confused face melts into smile.

"Aww, you're a fan? Thank you for your kind words. I didn't expect to bump into someone so nice today." Yukino replies, she places a hand on her chest to mimic the action of her heart being touched. Then she asks, "Would you like to take a picture with us?"

"A – A picture with you?" Juvia shutters, her grip was almost crushing Lisanna's gift. She couldn't believe her ears.

"You, me, Sting." Yukino then adds. "And your boyfriend,"

"My – My boyfriend?" Juvia echoes, head whipping back from Yukino to Gray then Yukino again.

"Yes. I think it would be a cute couples picture." Yukino says then turns to Sting. "Right, babe?"

Sting simply nods his head in reply.

"It'll be so much fun." Yukino says happily.

"Y – Yeah, fun – I mean – Yes!" Juvia finally answers, she turns to Gray and then gives him a pleading puppy dog look.

"Uh … sure?" Gray answers. Oh god, what has he gotten himself into?

"Great!" Yukino claps her hands. She pulls herself away from Sting's arm around her shoulder to ask another random fan by-stander to take their picture. That person agreed almost immediately. Just being in her presence was enough. But the fact that Yukino talked and let the person touch her phone was a whole new level!

Yukino then positions everyone in the picture; Sting with his arm on her waist, Juvia by Yukino's side, both posing cutely, Gray attempting to look like he's Juvia's boyfriend.

Once the photo's taken, Yukino thanks the other fan and then starts a friendly conversation with the said person and Juvia.

Yukino says to Juvia after the other fan waves his good-bye, "I'll tag you in the picture."

"You'll tag – You will?!" Juvia asks, not holding back her squeal. "Wait does that mean –"

"Yeah! I'll upload it on _Instagram_ and everything,"

Gray swears Juvia is all starry-eyed until Sting says a word to him, an entirely different conversation from the girls.

"Go get yourself something cold. My treat." Sting says, he slaps some money into Gray's hands.

"Uh – I can't take this –"

"My girl has been running out of inspiration lately," Sting says then pulls Gray nearer. "And she doesn't really have a lot of people to connect to with due to her statues so this was really nice." Sting says privately to Gray.

Gray decoded it as a way of saying Yukino was recently backstabbed and Juvia stating she liked Yukino's work made the _Instagram_ star's day.

Sting repeats, "My treat. Your girl seems like a sweet person, go get her a sundae or something. Share it with her."

"… Okay,"

…

Gray and Juvia do end up sharing a sundae.

It clicked in Gray's head why Yukino was so inviting. Gray and Juvia fit into Yukino's colour preferences just nicely – deep black hair, smoky grey shirt, blue hair and white skin. And also because Juvia had been the cute shuttering sweet mess that she ways.

The picture ends up getting so many likes that Juvia couldn't stop gushing about it for a solid two weeks. She kept it as her wallpaper for as long as Gray could remember.

…

He looks at it from time to time too.

* * *

It was the end of Spring when Gray found a change in himself.

"Do you have a preference?" Gray asks Juvia as they stand outside a bakery.

Juvia has a drink in hand. She can't really enter because the bakery discourages customers to bring outside food. She hasn't had a chance to eat breakfast and she claims she's starving.

"Not really. No," Juvia shakes her head. "Gray-sama can buy Juvia anything."

"Okay," He answers.

And he does. He buys himself a single piece of garlic bread and two chocolate buns for Juvia.

"Here," Gray says, lifting the bag of bread within Julia's reach, he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. He tells her as he's turning away for a more private chat, "Eat your bread, I have to take this call."

It's from Lyon and Gray's a little irked by it but he doesn't show it.

When Gray turns back to face Juvia, he sees her munching on his bread. Juvia looks pleased and content by the simple gesture of being fed. He doesn't have the heart to tell her the garlic bread is his. So instead, he watches her eat every single last bite while he doesn't touch the remaining buns. He's _allergic_ to chocolate.

"You can have the rest too." Gray tells Juvia.

"Is Gray-sama sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

It doesn't hit him why he made this sacrifice until it's Sunday morning and he has to come face to face with the facts.

He's in love with her.

Gray thought they might have had a chance together. He thought if he just gave it a little bit more time and throw in a few signals then things would get into motion. It could be the start of something new in their relationship. He really did think that. Him and Juvia.

* * *

 And then Lyon Bastia comes along.

* * *

It's Summer now but unfortunately, Summer break isn't for everyone. Work has been heavier than usual, but it's not something Gray can complain about. After all, he did move to Margaret because of the project.

...

Gray doesn't remember how it happened. He just knew it was worked related. Maybe it was the project that was oh-so-important. Maybe it was some report that was due at the end of the month. It was something that was significant and essential to Gray at that moment but was now nothing but a memory.

Lyon had come over Gray's place to work out some last minute edits for the work. Two hours had passed until Juvia knocks on Gray's door and asked what was the menu for tonight. Lyon didn't seem to notice the conversation at first until he looked up from his laptop screen and was immediately smitten by Juvia.

"Gray!" Lyon's voice calls out, being loud and annoying, "You didn't tell me you had another guest over!"

Gray felt a pulse throbbing on his forehead from this statement. "Because it's none of your business."

"Gray-sama, don't be mean to your guest!" Juvia scolds Gray. She doesn't seem to understand where the sudden attitude came from. She's frowning at Gray when Lyon gets up to greet her.

"Because he isn't a guest." Gray tells Juvia but words are cut off when Lyon introduces himself. Gray says under his breath, "He's a pest."

"Hello," Lyon says, eyes focused on Juvia and no one else. Gray stands there, feeling angry and invisible. "I'm Lyon Bastia."

"Juvia Lockser," She smiles politely at him.

"Charmed," Lyon replies. There's a twinkle in his eyes. " _Charmed_." He repeats, now with a dopey grin.

Juvia only beams back in return. "Does Lyon-san know Gray-sama well?"

"We've known each other since childhood. Gray and I work for the same company now." Lyon replies.

"Oh, you two must be such lovely friends." Juvia says, having good intention thoughts while Gray scowls.

Lyon lifts a shoulder. "I think calling us friends is a little … extreme, but if you even want dirt on Gray, I have them all."

This causes Juvia to chortle and for Gray to give Lyon the evil-eye. How dare Lyon come to his house and talk shit about him?

Lyon then asks Juvia, "What about you? Your relations to Gray?" Translation: _Are you dating loser Gray?_

Juvia explains. "Juvia lives next door. She's Gray-sama's neighbour." Translation: _I'm single and am now openly declaring to you that I'm neighbour-zoning Gray Fullbuster._

"Ah, I'd say he's quite lucky." Lyon states, thinking how wonderful it would be if he was living next to Juvia.

Juvia looks away, a little flustered by the compliment. "Is Lyon-san staying for long?"

"He's leaving soon." Gray finally speaks out. He wants to ask her, 'What the frick are you doing?' but doesn't.

"Oh," Juvia's voice drops a little. "Because Juvia was just about to make dinner and share it with Gray-sama."

"I would love to have dinner!" Lyon interjects before Gray can say anything.

But regardless, Gray does, "What – Lyon, no!"

"Why not?" Lyon frowns in response.

"My house, my rules –"

"Actually, we're having dinner at Juvia's house, remember?" Juvia says.

Both men turn to Juvia. One beaming like he's been blessed while one is mortified Juvia isn't siding with him.

"Juvia –"

"Come now, Gray-sama," Juvia tries playing it nice. "Gray-sama shouldn't be rude to his guest. He should expand his circle of friends."

Gray squints at this logic. He's about to protest when his thinking process gets to him.

Friends? He had – Okay, Gray doesn't exactly have friends here but that's only because he likes focusing on his work _at_ work. He's not there to chitter-chatter, _sometimes_ he talks to people at work. But … that's enough, right?

Juvia's giving him that look and he can't really say no. Not after Gray realized he fell for Juvia less than two weeks ago.

Defeated, Gray says, "Okay, then."

It began with work and ended with dinner.

* * *

It's been two months since.

All three of them are drunk off their asses – Gray, Juvia, _fucking_ Lyon. A hard day of work celebrated with alcohol. They decided to play a drinking game and soon everyone's slipping out secrets and not caring what comes out of their mouths.

"Man," Lyon laughs at nothing and smacks Gray's shoulder playful. "This is the most fun I've had all month. This is the highlight of my life."

"That's sad." Gray replies, not even caring if his words hurt Lyon's feelings. His tongue has always been sharp when intoxicated.

"Pfffttt," Lyon swats Gray's criticism away. "You're just –" Words fail and Lyon's unable to think of a proper insult. "Screw you, Gray."

"No, thanks."

Juvia lets out a giggle at this as she tips her head back to finish the last sips of her vodka mix.

"Hey – Hey, Juvia-Chan." Lyon calls out to her.

"Yes?" Juvia asks, her drink spills from the corner of her mouth and soon she's laughing at her own clumsiness.

"Juvia-Chan," Lyon calls again, reaching out and grabbing her wrist.

This earns Gray to give Lyon a look and for Juvia to compose herself from her laughing mess.

A smile is still present on Juvia's face when she cocks her head and asks again, "Yes, Lyon-san?"

"Juvia-Chan, I love you." Lyon declares with confidence and Gray swears he almost chokes on his own spit.

However, Juvia takes this as a drunk compliment. She tells him, probably not to hurt his feelings, "Juvia cares about Lyon-san too."

Lyon doesn't even seem embarrassed about his confession and smiles at her like he's over the moon. "Thank you,"

"What about me?" Gray found himself speaking, his tongue and brain aren't connected and – oh wow, did he just ask that? Damn it to hell!

"Juvia feels the same with Gray-sama." Juvia says. And Gray almost feels disappointed until Juvia adds, "Juvia will love Gray-sama too."

Then something blooms in Gray's chest – he doesn't know what to call it, perhaps hope or a silver chance that Juvia would accept him when Gray confesses. He doesn't know. But, at the moment, he feels better; more privileged than Lyon because Juvia said she _will_ love him.

"Yeah?" Gray questions but it's more of confirm promise more than anything.

Juvia nods her head and Gray's about to say something more but then there's an interference.

"I love you both!" Lyon tells the two people in the room, throwing himself forward and embracing them, breaking the moment with his drunken nonsense. "The two of you, I do!"

"You're drunk." Gray states the obvious.

Lyon says, without missing a beat, "Doesn't mean it clouds my judgement. At least, I know what love is."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Gray asks, irritation thunders at the back of his throat. He almost growls at Lyon.

"Hush, the both of you, you're fighting like children." Juvia quiets them.

Soon, the topic switches, the two men stop fighting. Irritation is replaced with more laughter. Juvia's reaching over to pour herself and the boys another drink. The conversation about love and confessions are forgotten as if it's non-existing.

* * *

Then, there were signs. So _many_ hints Gray should have taken it. He really should have. But he didn't. He didn't realize time was not on his side. He got _too_ comfortable.

* * *

Gray finds himself spending more and more time at the office. More time being buried under stacks of worksheets. More time with Team Leader Jellal Fernandez and Natsu Dragneel and _goddamn_ Lyon.

He knocks on Juvia's door around eight PM, his brain is on auto-pilot. Gray just needs to fill his stomach then sleep. Skip the shower, skip putting on his pyjamas. Just have dinner then let his head hit the pillow and welcome the land of sleep.

They're having a conversation as Juvia scoops rice into a bowl while Gray's on his phone, checking e-mails.

"Lucy-san got proposed to today!" Juvia squeals, she looked starry-eyed as she said this. "It was _so_ romantic, Gray-sama! You should have seen it, it puts _The Notebook_ to shame!"

This was a sign. Gray should have taken this as a hint, but he didn't. His brain isn't functioning well. He doesn't even remember which friend is Lucy. So instead, he asks who Lucy's fiancé was.

"Hmm," Juvia stops for a second and taps her chin thoughtfully. She guesses, "Natsu ... Dragneel?"

Gray's eyes look up from his phone for the first time during the conversation. Gray let's out a low whistle. "Wow,"

"What?"

"Natsu's my co-worker,"

"Really?" Juvia asks with a gasp.

"Yeah," Gray replies. "He's the dick co-worker I'm always complaining about."

She smiles at him. "Looks like Gray-sama and Juvia's world is more connected than we thought."

He remembers laughing at this statement. He's a little tired, work has been taking a toll on him recently. Well, it's more because of his perfectionist side but anything to be ahead, right? This is his career he's talking about!

"Small world," Gray says, changing the topic and ending it right there. They have dinner, he makes up an excuse not to wash the dishes and he loses his chance.

* * *

More days pass, and soon, weeks. There are nights where Gray leaves Juvia's house before nine PM and twice where he forgets to even go to Juvia's house because he feels exhausted and drained. He apologizes for it though the next morning. She said she understood.

.

.

.

(But did she really?)

* * *

Chances slip out of Gray's hands like sand when he let his job take precedence over Juvia's feelings. There is no 'right' and 'wrong' answer when it comes to balancing a job and probably-blooming love life. Yes, Gray's career was important. But so was Juvia's heart and he should have realized it. He should have given her a heads up. He should have made a plan.

But he didn't.

Gray stopped doing the dishes, he stopped being responsible. He started missing dinner with Juvia after failing to tell her and making her wait. And Gray ends up spending more time at the office than everyone else in the building.

* * *

Juvia has been disappointed with Gray's behaviour lately, he's not taking care of himself.

These days, Gray has been worn out and starved of sleep so Juvia takes it upon herself to make sure Gray gets enough energy (that comes with consequences).

Juvia gives and she gives and she gives. There's more food on the table, more money spent on groceries, more cooking to do, more dishes to wash.

And Gray takes and takes and takes. He doesn't contribute back. Most days, he's too tired to even strike a simple conversation. No 'Hello, how was your day?', no 'How was work?', just sitting down and scoping whatever was on the dining table into his mouth.

He takes and he takes and he takes until she doesn't think she can give anything back. It's been two months.

* * *

Then his lack of effort turns into a lack of presence.

"Juvia, hey, I'm sorry but I'll be working over-time today. I hope you don't mind eating dinner alone." Gray says as he presses his ear against his phone. The clock reads ten PM, he's been so immersed in his work that he forgot to check the time and left Juvia waiting.

"Oh – Juvia was wondering where Gray-sama was. She was getting worried but she didn't want to bother him." Juvia says, her voice lace with sincere honestly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Gray tells her. "I'll make it up to you. I'll be on time, next time."

His excuse isn't the first and certainly not the last.

"Hey, oh god, I'm sorry, Juvia. Things got so busy at work and suddenly it's midnight."

He makes the same excuse again.

"Juvia, I'm sorry, I'll be late again." He says, frowning at himself.

And again.

"I'm sorry, I'm staying at the office today." He tell her.

And again.

"I'm sorry," He says –

Until their dinners plans fades into nothing and just like most things in life, he soon slips away, leaving a gap in Juvia's life to fill.

* * *

Time. He thinks he has time to amend everything. He's been busy for the past couple of months but once he's free, he'll make it up to her, Gray promised himself that.

He tells himself she'll be patient. He tells himself to wait.

When the time is right, he'll apologize. He'll take Juvia out to dinner or treat her to that movie she mentioned. Something about a bunch of anti-heroes travelling the galaxy. There was a raccoon and some infant plant thing. And a mix tape for some reason? No, wait, a blue dude with bad hair and an arrow? Gray didn't know but he did know Juvia was excited about it and he made a mental note to bring her to see it when he has the time.

Gray thinks he has all the time in the world.

.

.

.

But he never made the time and the reminder slips from his mind not long after.

* * *

"Oh, Gray-sama!" Juvia greets Gray one afternoon. There are two girls with her. He recognises their faces but their names escape him; one was Natsu's fiancée while the other one had short white hair.

"Hey," He says. "I just got back from grocery shopping." Then he notices how nicely dressed they are as if they had just gone for an outing. "You looked like you had fun."

"We did," Juvia says and both her friends bob their heads in sync.

"What did you do?" Gray asks, not really interested, he's just trying to fill in the lost hours with this small talk.

"We watched a movie."

"What's it called?"

She looks him straight in the eye and answers cheerfully, " _Guardians of the Galaxy 2_ ,"

* * *

And then Juvia starts finding comfort with Lyon.

* * *

Gray discovers Juvia has filled the space he left had Juvia with. Because sometimes when he knocks on her door, she's not at home. And sometimes, she's with her girl friends. And sometimes, she's with someone who sounds familiar and not so female.

There are nights where he wakes up to whispers and giggling. He didn't have the strength to make out the conversation or who she was with. No, that would keep him up all night. He knows it. He knows himself well. Instead, he tells himself he can fix this later; so he rolls over and pretends he never heard a thing.

* * *

When Gray has rare times to spent time with Juvia, it is surprisingly Lyon who invites Gray and succeeds. How? Probably because Lyon knows Gray's work schedule and details of the Deliora project. But that doesn't mean there was never a second where Gray felt bad for being able to agree to Lyon's invitation and not Juvia's.

It's been three months since he stopped having dinner with Juvia entirely.

Hangouts end up mirroring just the three of them spending time together – whether they were intoxicated or not. And during those times, all Gray could think about was how Lyon was a third-wheel.

Third-wheel.

 _You're a third-wheel, Lyon._ Gray thinks drunkly as he tries to remember the good old days when it was just him and Juvia. But as the days past, work kept taking time from him and now it was a little difficult to remember the familiarities.

…

He kept thinking about it until he didn't have to. Because somehow, between chasing deadlines and goals, being buried in paperwork and skipping dinner with Juvia, Gray instead had become that third-wheel.

Without him even knowing it, Lyon fills his shoes and fills spaces Gray's subconsciously left for Lyon to fit in. You can't really blame a person for walking into a room if you left the door wide open.

* * *

It only came crashing down when Gray saw _everything_ after coming home around midnight one night.

He remembers it all well. _Too_ well.

Him – lose blue and grey striped tie, bruises under his eyes and briefcase in hand. Juvia – dressed in a large shirt and comfortable shorts. Lyon – still in his work clothes, but less tired and more refreshed and happy.

Juvia was drunk. Lyon was drunk. They were both heavily intoxicated. But Lyon was going home; in the safest way possible. It wasn't like Lyon was drunk driving, he only lived a few floors up.

Lyon turned around just as Juvia was playfully shoving him out. He spun, leaned against the door frame and said something snarky. Then they burst out giggling like school girls. They were laughing at something; an inside joke probably. They were so invested in it that they didn't notice Gray.

And that's when Lyon kissed her. He kissed Juvia.

It was bold and sloppy and drunk. But it was also filled with romance, Lyon was smiling so hard it was difficult to kiss her right. But Gray didn't care how Lyon reacted. He wanted to know how Juvia reacted.

But ... She didn't.

Or, at least, not in the way Gray thought Juvia would.

Juvia didn't gasp in shock. She didn't panic. She didn't get enraged and slap him. She didn't look mortified at all. She looked like she was used to it, like it's happened many times. _Too_ many times.

And that's when Gray realizes he's missed another hint.

Gray thinks he must have dropped his briefcase or something because Lyon and Juvia pull apart just long enough for Juvia to speak.

"Oh, Gray-sama!" Juvia finally took notice of her neighbour. "You're back! Welcome home!"

Lyon stands there laughing at nothing, his eyes never once leaving Juvia's face even though she was talking to someone else.

Gray felt his stomach churn. He doesn't even know what he should be feeling right now.

Gray opens his mouth to reply but nothing comes out. He can' think of what to say. "I –"

He couldn't finish the words. He wasn't home. Not by a long shot. Not when this was happening.

"I'm going to bed." He says.

"Okay, Juvia hopes Gray-sama sleeps well then!" Juvia says happily, her voice is slurred from all the drinking.

But he doesn't. Gray doesn't sleep well at all that night, in fact, he doesn't sleep a wink.

* * *

"We've been together for a while now," Juvia Lockser tells Gray Fullbuster as her small hand is intertwine with Lyon Bastia's.

His silver haired rival is smiling like the happiest man alive – and Gray suppose, at this moment, Lyon couldn't be happier.

In the eye of the hurricane, all Gray can do is fake a smile and lie through his teeth. He says, "I'm happy for you two."

Gray tells himself there's no way they'd last and by then, after all the waiting, he'd tell her his feelings. He's known Lyon all his life. There's no way Lyon can make Juvia happy. There's no way a low-life, egoistic bastard like Lyon can change.

* * *

They're at a bar that 'serves' as an office party. The Deliora project has been moving ahead of time lately. Among Jellal, Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Lyon and Juvia, Gray felt like he was the seventh wheel in the couples circle.

But Lyon and Juvia were late – two hours late.

People are intoxicated. They're dancing to random music or ordering more rounds or laughing with friends. Gray's lost count on the number of beers he's had.

Half his face is buried between his folded arms and his head is rested on the table when Gray hears a small ruckus. It's happy and congratulating and exaggerated.

"Congrats, you two!" Bisca's recognizable voice says and Gray can almost picture Alzack smacking the person he's talking too on the back.

Alcohol makes Gray's body heavy. He doesn't want to get up and discover whatever the hell is happening. He's got his eyes set on his drink when Lyon strides to the table with Juvia by embracing Lyon openly. She looks delighted.

"I apologize for our late arrival," Lyon says, he's all smiles. It's like he's mimicking the Chesire cat.

"It's fine," Erza waves the issue down, her martini has made her soft. She's no longer an angry whirlwind office lady. "It's your anniversary tonight, it's expected for you and Juvia to spend time together."

Jellal nods his head, his arm around Erza's shoulder, and adds, "In fact, you guys didn't even need to come tonight. It's just a work party."

Lyon almost laughs at his next delivery, it's as if he can't contain his excitement. "Oh, but we had to share the news with you!"

"What news?" Lucy chimes in, she gives Juvia a devious look. Like _, girl, what up?_

Juvia can no longer keep silent and exclaim, trusting her hand at the table. "Lyon-san proposed and Juvia said yes!"

Gray lifts his head and looks at them, his back now straight as a pole.

His face drops immediately but it's easily drowned out by Lucy's reaction. The blonde let's out a loud holler and basically wilderbeast stamped her way towards Juvia, not caring that she was stepping over Natsu. Screw the booth seating system!

Lyon let's out a chuckle, lets the girls have their moment, and takes a seat besides Jellal.

"Kyaaa, I'm so happy for you!" Lucy says and wraps her arm around Juvia's neck, she squeezes her friend tightly. "Oh my gosh – You have to tell me everythi –"

But Lucy doesn't get to finish her words.

Gray's wide eyed and drunk. He doesn't know what's gotten over him when he wordlessly yanks Juvia's hand towards him and inspects her ring finger. Low and behold, there lays a shiny engagement ring – beautiful and expensive, a blue diamond catches the attention of everyone around the table.

"Ooohhh," Erza chimes, her hands covering her mouth. She's awed by how lovely it is.

Gray doesn't know what to say so he just stares at it. He stares and stares and stares until Juvia break the awkwardness.

"I think someone needs some water," Juvia teases, earning a string of laughter from the people at the table. "Come on, Gray-sama, up you go."

She gets a stare from Gray in return.

Lucy sits back down in her seat and immediately starts asking Lyon about the details of the night. Everyone else wants to know too. Gray wants to escape this nightmare.

Juvia extends her hand for Gray to reach. Even in this dull bar lighting, she stands out among everyone. Gray takes it, he doesn't like the feel of the ring on her finger.

"I'll come too," Natsu says, slipping away from the chatter and scooting out of the booth. "I'm driving me and Luce home tonight, I need to sober up."

The three of them go but Gray's stumbling over his two feet so Juvia has to reach out and steady him. She's laughing at his clumsiness, Natsu's smirking too. In another life, this would be nice. In another life, she wouldn't have accepted Lyon's proposal.

Then the next thing Gray knows, he's sitting on a high stool, a glass of water in hand as Juvia talks about how Lyon planned the dinner. Natsu's nodding his head politely and taking sips of his own water, inserting his own proposing experience and chucking to himself based on the past event – how excited he was, how nervous he was, how he really wanted to spend the rest of his life with Lucy.

It's all too much to take in for Gray; the news, the multiple conversations going on in the room, the background music, his buzzed brain.

All Gray remembers is Juvia telling the two why she loves Lyon. All he remembers is a gut feeling. He remembers instinct. He remembers Natsu looking at him with concern. He remembers Juvia asking Gray if he was alright.

Then he was kissing her.

He's _kissing_ her.

She's shocked, still as a statue. His head is fuzzy and he's _kissing_ her.

Someone gasps, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Oh no! Gray, stop!"

"Holy shit!"

Then suddenly Gray's not kissing Juvia anymore. Suddenly Natsu's hands are grabbing onto Gray's shoulders and pushing him away. Then he hears shouting, he feels Natsu continuously pulling him away from the disaster and Gray remembers stumbling.

Lyon storms up behind them, looking angry. Looking _furious._ Juvia looks shocked and Gray's head is swimming.

It's swimming and the world is spinning and he can't make out the words coming out of Natsu's mouth. The pinkette's talking too fast, his words flying around. Then it clicks to Gray that Natsu's apologizing profusely on Gray's behalf.

 _No,_ Gray thinks. _No, don't apologize. I'm not sorry for that kiss. Not at all._

And how could he be? He's wanted to kiss Juvia for forever. But he was too slow. If only he had paid attention. If only he had seen the signs. If he was just more attentive, more bold, more –

* * *

Gray had known Juvia longer. Way longer. Six months from Winter to Summer while Lyon had only known Juvia somewhere at the start of the Summer despite living in the same building for far longer than Gray. Lyon had waited three months before asking Juvia out and a single year before asking for her hand in marriage. She said yes.

Gray waited, he waited for the perfect opportunity to tell her.

He waits and he waits and he waits.

But then Lyon swooped in and stole everything.

And Gray found it unfair. How was it that Lyon moved so fast yet him so slow.

...

Before the blackout of the hazy drunken night, Gray remembers asking Lyon the same thing. "How did you do it? How did you get her heart so fast?"

And Lyon responses, "You always do this. You always keep waiting. You beat around the bush. No one's that patient."

…

When morning comes, Gray remembers a thought from that chaotic night; Lyon beat him – again.

* * *

"Eat well, it will all pass." Juvia says to Gray, hand outstretched like that night he kissed her. Juvia's handing Gray a cook book she made herself.

Lyon stands close behind Juvia and Gray doesn't blame him. Not after that drunken stunt he pulled.

Juvia was moving out with Lyon, her fiancé. They were going to live together after Lyon got relocated. Somewhere away in Balsam. Not home, not in Magnolia. Miles away.

Lyon's work was done – he had planned ahead, he had managed his time well; made the project move forward ahead of time, divided his time equally between work and Juvia and his basic needs, build a stable relationship with the boss, co-workers and his fiancée.

Once again, Lyon was ten steps ahead of Gray.

It was now been exactly two years into the Deliora projects – six months since he met Juvia, three months since Lyon asked Juvia out, a year since Lyon proposed and three months since they decided to move in together.

"Take it," Lyon says, he's standing closest by the door. It's body language for _I want to leave immediately._

"Okay," Gray says, he takes it, but he knows he won't use it.

Gray doesn't think he needs Juvia's handwritten cook book. No, he's only going to be here for another month or so before he moves back. He can go back to his old ways. He can survive off buttered toast and cereal and take-out.

Eating her food will just be defeat.

"Thank you for being such a good neighbour, Gray-sama." Juvia says.

A wobbly grin is returned to her. Gray answers, "You too."

As Juvia gives Gray a smile goodbye – her final smile, Lyon places a hand on Juvia's hip and guides her out of Gray's apartment. Lyon's body image screams: _Mine_.

Gray doesn't even react, he just stares at the door until it's closed. He stands still listening to their murmurs and footsteps leaving the building.

The cookbook feels heavy in his limp hand.

Gray had lost to him.

He lost to Lyon.

He lost again.

No matter what, Gray will always be second place. No matter how hard he tries. No matter how much time and effort and sweat.

He lost.

He lost to –

He lost _her_.

* * *

"Do you think you'll get invited to the wedding?" Natsu Dragneel asks as he and Gray are seated at a bar.

Gray breathes in deeply. Everything was too much and he was offering so little. He pauses then answers, "… I guess so. Juvia's nice enough of a person to do that."

Their work ties are loose around their necks.

Natsu questions, blinking at the counter. "You think you'd be best man or something?"

"Nah, I'm not that close to Lyon. Jura's probably going to fill that role." Gray tells Natsu, his hands cupped around his beer can. You'd think after the last episode involving alcohol, Gray would swear off it. Of course, he didn't.

Natsu offers a half hidden smile as he takes a sip of his own drink. "Will you go?"

"Well, Juvia lives here. Her entire family lives here but …" Gray continues talking, "I've been promoted, remember? I'm moving away anyways. There's no real reason to come back."

Natsu fakes an injured heart and says, "Not even if I call you up and ask you to hang out?"

"You're getting married soon, Flame Brain." Gray reminds Natsu. "The last thing you'd want is to spend time away from your new family."

"That might be true." Natsu hums in agreement. "But, I'm glad I met you, Ice Princess."

This comment earns a raised brow.

Natsu lets out a hearty chuckle then tells Gray, "I mean – Yeah, you were a pain at first, but you really drove me to do better career wise. I'd probably still be stuck in the same position if we didn't have that friendly rivalry going on."

"You thought that was a rivalry?" Gray asks.

Natsu's face morphs into an amused look, it says _You haven't seen what a real rivalry looks like, have you?_

"Look, I know you use to have this rivalry thing with Lyon and everything but it's not –" Natsu begins to explain but stops, he doesn't want to rub salt on Gray's wounds. Talking about Juvia was hard enough.

Natsu continues with his story, "There used to be another co-worker of mine that I really wanted to beat. His name was Laxus Dreyar. He was like a bulked up Ken doll; blonde hair and blue eyes. He had the attitude of a fuck-boy and all the ladies were falling to his feet. He got regular raises for no reason, it was _ridiculous._ " Natsu rolls his eyes at the old memory. "I always thought he was a real ass and I tried my best to prove I was better in every way until I found myself just … fading away from who I was."

He lets out a laugh as Gray stayed quiet and listened.

"And once I realized that. I stopped trying to be someone else and just went at my own pace. I stopped trying to be a better Laxus and just tried to be me which worked for the best." Natsu admits. "I got Lucy, I got good friends, I got this nice job. I'm getting married soon. I wouldn't have been able to achieve that if I just stuck to beating Laxus."

The look in Gray's eyes seem to say everything. His rivalry with Lyon has been one-sided. He started off at the same level then it changed direction the moment Lyon picked up Gray's pattern. And by then, Lyon was long gone and Gray was behind.

He understood it now. He did.

"Anyway, my point is," Natsu says, "I see you as a good friend. You pushed me in a good direction. And if you even wanna chill or crash over for the night after a few drinks, you're welcome at my house."

Gray's opens his mouth to thank Natsu before the pinkette adds a condition to the invite.

"You have to give me a heads up first though. Lucy would kill me if she just finds some dude sleeping on our sofa or something."

Gray says, "I will."

It's a lie.

"Thank you."

* * *

He should have deleted it.

But what Gray really _should_ have done is left it the way he found it – forgotten.

The picture that was taken more than a year ago.

…

Juvia's moved out for a month now. Her apartment's empty, it feels like his heart.

"You told me you would love me. Then what's this?" Gray found himself whispering the old promise as he stares at his phone, the picture could only be described as false – false hope, false happiness, false love.

He refuses to cry but the situation he's in is so painful.

"What's _this_?" He asks again.

As Gray recalls old memories, he can't bring himself to reach out to his dad or his aunt or Natsu Dragneel. He wants to deal with this alone. He really does. But he doesn't.

Gray ends up calling his cousin. He says, "Hey, Tear."

"Hi," Urtear replies on the other line. It sounds like she busy with her hands at the moment. Gray's still glad she picked up though. "Are you packing up?"

He looks at all of his things, sorted and organized in boxed. Gray says, "I just finished. I'm just … sitting on the couch now, resting."

Urtear asks, "When are the movers coming?"

"About two hours." Gray answers after checking his wrist watch.

"That's great! You're finally done and over with your big project! You should give yourself a clap on the back, the Delilah project's finally finished –"

"Deliora," Gray corrects but his words go unnoticed.

"– Just think, in about seven hours, you'll be back home!" Urtear gave a small cheer.

"Yeah," Gray says, his voice sounds low. He repeats, "Yeah. Do you remember the talk we had when I first moved to Margaret?"

"Hmm ..." Urtear hums. If she's noticed Gray's intonation, she's not saying anything so she doesn't hurt his feelings. "I think so. Why?"

"You were right about stranger danger. I did get hurt," He says, letting his armour down.

" _Oh_ , Gray." Is all she can say. She knew he was being too distant. Just what on earth happened?

Gray's silent for a moment before he calls out, "Tear,"

"Yes?"

"It's Spring." He says it like it's a reminder. It's time he puts this part of him behind. That part of him is dead now and he's going to bury it. "When I get home, get some snowlilies for me, okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately for those of you who have read my Gruvia works, I'm not done torturing my OTP just yet. So, here's some more heartache.
> 
> This story should really be 'How dirty dishes ruin Gray's relationship' because it plays such a big part. But I guess it's also symbolism when someone stops trying. Meh. Two more parts to go then the open ending epilogue!
> 
> – 17 June 2017


End file.
